Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Reconstruction Of Records, E-Courts And Right To Fair Trial In India

There are circumstances where the records of police
and judicial authorities may go missing or are destroyed beyond
redemption. In such a case, proceeding with the concerned court case
is next to impossible.

If the records of the proceedings are destroyed due
to natural calamities and their reconstruction is not possible, then
the court has no other option but to acquit the accused.

The traditional record keeping has this serious
drawback that is absent when we adopt information and communication
technology (ICT). For instance, if electronic records are maintained,
the reconstruction of lost or destroyed records is just a click away.

If a guilty person is acquitted due to inability to
reconstruct the records or an innocent is convicted due to defective
reconstruction of records, this would amount to miscarriage of
justice and violation of right to fair trial. Therefore, proper
reconstruction of records is of utmost importance.

In a latest case in this regard, a Division Bench of
Delhi High Court, comprising of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice
VK Jain, has directed a District and Sessions Judge to “reconstruct”
within two weeks the records pertaining to a 20-year-old rape case,
in which judicial and police files went missing. The bench also
directed for appropriate action against the officers responsible for
missing of the files.

The bench further ordered for setting up a committee
to examine the practices and systems prevailing in the matters of
custody and maintenance of court records. At Perry4Law
and Perry4Law’s
Techno Legal Base (PTLB) we welcome this move of the Delhi
High Court as it is progressive in nature and justice oriented.

We also feel that an electronic record is not only
durable but can be easily stored as well. It must be noted that in
majority of cases the witnesses do not come forward to give evidence
and many important pieces of evidences are lost forever. This results
in acquittal of the accused and a miscarriage of justice.